The crypto market in 2025 is facing intense turbulence. The capitalization of once-hot trends like meme coins has plummeted. Capital has flowed out of decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols, driving DeFi’s total value locked (TVL) down from $120 billion to around $87 billion.

In this context, Sonic stands out. It has consistently hit new TVL highs, reaching $1 billion in April after growing nearly 40 times since the beginning of the year. So, what makes Sonic a bright spot amid a stormy market?

Investors Are Pouring Capital into Sonic

Sonic has made its mark with a rapid TVL growth rate, far outpacing better-known blockchains. According to DefiLlama, Sonic reached $1 billion in TVL within 66 days. In comparison, Sui took 505 days, and Aptos needed 709.

This achievement reflects strong capital inflows into the Sonic ecosystem despite the broader DeFi trend of capital withdrawal. Data from Artemis supports this, ranking Sonic as the second-highest netflow protocol this year—trailing only Base, a blockchain backed by Coinbase.

The growth goes beyond TVL numbers. Sonic’s ecosystem is attracting various projects, including derivatives exchanges like Aark Digital and Shadow Exchange and protocols such as Snake Finance, Equalizer0x, and Beets. These projects still have small TVLs, but they have the potential to draw new users and capital, fueling Sonic’s momentum.

However, the question remains: Can this capital inflow remain sustainable while the market fluctuates?

Andre Cronje on Sonic’s Potential and Strengths

Andre Cronje, the developer behind Sonic, shared his ambition in an interview to push this blockchain beyond its competitors.

“Sonic has sub-200 millisecond finality, faster than human responsiveness,” Andre Cronje said.

According to Cronje, Sonic isn’t just about speed. The platform also focuses on improving both user and developer experience. He explained that 90% of transaction fees go to dApp, not to validators, creating incentives for developers to build.

Unlike other blockchains, such as Ethereum, which are limited by long block times, Sonic leverages an enhanced virtual machine that theoretically processes up to 400,000 transactions per second. Cronje acknowledges, however, that current demand has yet to push the network to its full capacity. Still, these technical advantages make Sonic a compelling option for developers seeking more user-friendly dApps.

He also revealed new features on Sonic that have the potential to attract users.

“If your first touch point with a user is to download this wallet and then buy this token on an exchange, you’ve lost 99.9% of your users. They’ll use their Google off-email password, fingerprint, face, whatever it is, to access the dApp and interact with it, and they’ll never need to know about Sonic or token,” Andre Cronje revealed.

Risks and Challenges Ahead

Despite reaching impressive milestones, Sonic is not immune to risk. The price of its token, S, has declined significantly from its peak. According to BeInCrypto, it has dropped around 20% in the past month—from $0.60 down to $0.47—mirroring the broader market’s volatility.

Furthermore, Grayscale recently removed Sonic from its April asset consideration list. This decision reflects a shift in the fund’s expectations and raises concerns about Sonic’s ability to maintain its TVL should investor sentiment deteriorate.

Sonic also faces fierce competition from other high-performance chains like Solana and Base. Although Sonic holds a clear advantage in speed, long-term user adoption will depend on whether its ecosystem can deliver real value, not just high TVL figures.

The leading meme coin Dogecoin has surged nearly 1% today, defying the broader market downturn momentum, with 6.96 billion coins traded over the last 24 hours. However, although the number seems big, it appears that the ongoing DOGE price surge is less likely to be sustained ahead. Despite that, some of the recent market trends hint that the meme coin may gain more exposure in the market due to soaring institutional interest.

Dogecoin price has mitigated some of its recent losses and traded at $0.157. Notably, it comes as the digital assets space stayed in the red, with the global crypto market losing 0.25% to $2.58 trillion. Ethereum was one of the top laggards among the top 10 coins, losing nearly 3% over the last 24 hours.

However, despite the recent gains, DOGE price has lost more than 6% in the weekly chart, while touching a 24-hour high and low of $0.158 and $0.1494. Besides, a total of 6.96 billion tokens were traded in the last 24 hours, totaling $1.09 billion.

Despite that, the one-day trading volume was down more than 45%, suggesting a volatile period ahead. Besides, CoinGlass data showed that DOGE Futures Open Interest fell 1% to $1.43 billion, reflecting the still gloomy sentiment hovering in the market.

For context, if high prices are not being supported by soaring trading volumes, it signals a concerning trend for the asset. This disparity can be a warning sign that the uptrend is weakening or a reversal is imminent.

Having said that, Dogecoin’s current low volume indicates a lack of broad market support, leaving the price vulnerable to a decline. With fewer traders actively buying, the top meme coin may be due for a correction.

Recent Trends Suggests Otherwise: Dogecoin (DOGE) Price To Rally?

One of the most recent positive developments on the meme coin is the 21Shares filing for DOGE ETF with the US SEC. The asset manager has revealed this significant step towards launching the investment instrument by filing the S-1 form with the US SEC on April 9.

Meanwhile, this move makes 21Shares the third company, after Grayscale and Bitwise, to seek approval for a DOGE ETF. The next step involves filing the 19b-4 form, which will officially start the approval process.

If approved, the ETF would provide investors with a new way to gain exposure to Dogecoin, potentially increasing its mainstream acceptance and market accessibility. Besides, 21Shares has also planned to launch DOGE ETP in Europe through a partnership with the House of Doge.

However, despite these bullish developments, investors should exercise due diligence before entering the market in this volatile scenario. For context, a recent Dogecoin price prediction indicates that the crypto might hover near the $0.1499 mark through April.

Having said that, it appears that the crypto might hover near the flatline in the coming days unless any major catalyst boosts the market sentiment further.

✓ Share:

Rupam Roy

Rupam is a seasoned professional with three years of experience in the financial market, where he has developed a reputation as a meticulous research analyst and insightful journalist. He thrives on exploring the dynamic nuances of the financial landscape. Currently serving as a sub-editor at Coingape, Rupam’s expertise extends beyond conventional boundaries. His role involves breaking stories, analyzing AI-related developments, providing real-time updates on the crypto market, and presenting insightful economic news.
Rupam’s career is characterized by a deep passion for unraveling the complexities of finance and delivering impactful stories that resonate with a diverse audience.

Disclaimer: The presented content may include the personal opinion of the author and is subject to market condition. Do your market research before investing in cryptocurrencies. The author or the publication does not hold any responsibility for your personal financial loss.